In a review of Victor Navasky’s new book on political cartooning:
… the omissions sometimes overshadow the inclusions. Where, for starters, are Garry Trudeau, Tom Toles, Tom Tomorrow and Jen Sorensen, who rank among our most gifted lifters of political veils and preÂtenses?
The reviewer goes on to note:
At the moment, the future of political cartoons may seem as uncertain as that of newspapers themselves, whose publishers are scrambling to devise the formula that will grant them eternal online life. In the meantime, Navasky contends, cartoons stand to benefit from the new technology. “Rather than dating them,†he writes, “the World Wide Web and digital media appear to extend their reach.†This might seem to be good news. Yet an increase in distribution channels is not the same thing as a creative renaissance, and so far major online news sites have resisted the chance to hire their own political cartoonists. An exception is Politico, where the resident artist Matt Wuerker casts a comic beam of light on the drama of Obama’s Washington.
I hit some very similar notes in my Herblock speech. I don’t know if the reviewer saw or was influenced by that, but in any case I’m glad to see the point being made in a wider venue. Maybe Josh Marshall and Arianna Huffington will take note.